It is located on the north bank of the Blue Nile, and the east bank of the River Nile, near the confluence of the Blue Nile with the White. Until 2023, the Shambat Bridge connected it with Omdurman to its west. Another major bridge links it with Khartoum to the south.
It was part of a three-city agglomeration (with Khartoum proper and Omdurman) with a combined population of 4,272,728 in 2008.
The original settlement was the largest in the area of the Nile confluence before the Egyptians established Khartoum as their military garrison and administrative centre in the 1820s.[2] It was eclipsed by Egyptian Khartoum, its Mahdist replacement Omdurman, and the British refounding of Khartoum following their reconquest of the country in 1898. However, Khartoum North began to grow again as the southern terminus of the Sudan Military Railroad, completed in 1899.[2] The Blue Nile was bridged in 1910, and the line extended to Sennar, but Khartoum North continued to serve as the central railroad station and yard.
The area is the industrial centre of the region and the country. It contains dockyards, marine and rail workshops, and sawmills. Khartoum North trades in cotton, grains, fruit, and livestock; industries include tanning, brewing, brickmaking, textile weaving, and food processing. After 2000, chemical plants supplying household products to the rest of the country were built there. [citation needed]
A wealthy suburb emerged towards the eastern part of the neighbourhood, along the Blue Nile.
Neighbourhoods
Khartoum North has many neighbourhoods, including:
Sudan
